Thinking ahead - pet friendly lawn fertiliser: is there such a thing??

DDog has been living with us for 9 months now and we luffs him lots, but he has absolutely wrecked what little lawn we have: the usual peeing and pooing, but also scratching after he has done his business.We are in the West/Central Scotland and our garden is currently a sodden, boggy mess generally, but clearly the grass will need TLC when the growing season starts again.

A lot of us have been moaning about how wet our lawns are this winter! It's been soggy to say the least . Lawns suffer with any traffic in such conditions - in our case, it's my DH tramping over it with his bike!

It will grow back with a little care in the spring. Have a look at youtube videos for aerating and reseeding patches that have gone a bit bare - these will soon sprout and look fine again. When you cut regularly, you can actually leave the grass clippings on as a mulch which will provide some nutrients.

If you can stop the dog scratching, it will help, but having a recalcitrant cat myself, I realise this isn't always practical!!

You can buy special brands of pet-safe fertilizer, but you often still have to keep the dog off for a set period, which is a pain. I'm not sure how eco-friendly they are.

Alternatively, you can just leave the clippings on as a mulch (cheaper and more organic) or use seaweed spray. Traditional non-toxic things like blood, fish and bone are good, but will tend to drive dogs crazy - it's like the lawn is transformed into a smorgasbord!!

I don't know the specifics, but dog urine contains something (nitrogen?) that grass feed also contains. If you have too much of the (nitrogen?) it kills the grass.

The grass could be bad because of the feed you put on it before you had your dog. Do not feed your lawn if you have dogs, the urine over time will feed it, just give it a helping hand by minimising traffic etc. It will take a long time, but be patient.

We learnt the all the hard way a few years ago. We spent quite a lot if time researching etc. We weed spray our lawn etc, but never feed it.

You also might consider growing clover or some other alternative to grass, in the area the dog uses. I have added clover to areas of my garden where turf failed to flourish. It's also good for the pollinators.

I think I need to rehome the dug… - his scratching after he's done his business is doing a lot of damage, clover or no clover.

It's our tiny, suburban front 'lawn' - and getting rid of it would deprive DH of his one little bit of lawn to mow

I think we'll go for a bit of bonemeal/fish blood come the spring. Put it out in the evening and hope for a lot bit of rain overnight to wash it in. There is every chance it will rain any given day. Sigh.

You might want to consult some local garden center experts. Grass doesn't really need much in the way of fertilizer. It grows readily in cool weather and just wants plenty of water. You need not wait for warm spring weather to plant and excessive fertilizer will burn it. Scratch up the soil a bit, press the seed in with the soles of your shoes and water.